Our Money Makeover candidates are all parents, so estate planning is a particularly important part of their financial plan. Read this article to get tips on what to look for when drawing up your will and making sure you have tax-effective estate...
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Q&A: Interest rates
We’ve had significant cuts in the interest rate this year. On 1 January 2020, the prime interest rate was 10%, and as of 22 May, it had been reduced to 7.25%. The current repo rate of 3.75% is the lowest it's been for almost 47 years. So it's not...
Listen: Money Makeover: Mistakes to avoid with your own business
In this, our fifth Money Makeover podcast, we chat to Elton Govender, senior enterprise development specialist at Absa, to provide some tips to those of us who are self employed or running our own businesses. Elton shares the guidance and tools he...
How to start that emergency fund
If you follow my articles, podcasts or videos, you will know that I talk a lot about emergency funds. The concept of an emergency fund was really drummed into me when I edited Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover for South African readers. I always...
Video: Do I have to purchase an annuity at retirement?
Chris is about to retire and wrote to us asking what he should do with his provident fund. A provident fund (unlike a pension fund or retirement annuity) allows you to take the full lump sum at retirement; you are not forced to purchase an annuity....
When your credit shortfall insurance leaves you short
Despite having credit shortfall insurance, many policyholders find themselves out of pocket when it comes to claiming because they don't properly understand how the cover works. In its 2019 annual report the Ombud for Short-Term Insurance (OSTI)...
Listen: Beware the payment-holiday trap
Payment holidays are a lot like real holidays – they end up costing more than you realise. In this podcast, Maya (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo (@womanandfinance) look at the costs of debt-payment holidays and how to get back on track after taking one.
Should you be worried about prescribed assets?
The debate around prescribed assets grabs headlines from time to time, but when you cut through the hysteria there is largely a consensus that pension funds could be used to boost infrastructural development in South Africa. The important question...
Money Makeover: Common mistakes entrepreneurs make
While Bellah is never short of new ideas, the problem has always been the financial management of her businesses and her cash flow. Last year her construction business had a turnover of R1.3 million, but she had no idea whether she was making a...
Video: Play the Lotto or invest?
Over the last 20 years the National Lottery has paid out a total of R285 million in jackpot prizes. But as they say, the lottery is a tax on the mathematically challenged. The chances of winning are really, really small. You only have a one in 14...
Previous Articles
How new drunk-driving law will affect your car insurance
The days of having a beer after work and driving home will soon be over – and that’s not just because of the lockdown restrictions. Once South Africa’s strict new drunk-driving laws have been passed, drivers won’t be allowed to drink alcohol at all. Currently, it’s...
Listen: What are you going to do with your first million?
Have you ever thought about how much you will earn over the next five years? If you have just started working and are taking home R15 000 a month, over the next five years you will earn nearly R1 million – without any promotions or salary increases. What will you have...
Financial products leave self-employed in the cold
One of the things to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis is that the financial industry needs to innovate in order to keep up with a rapidly changing workforce that is increasingly comprised of self-employed people. Most financial products remain rooted in the idea that...
Video: Tax-free investing
Do you know that over a 20-year period, you could give away more than a quarter of your investment returns to the taxman? That is why tax-free investment accounts are becoming so popular and why they have a place in everybody’s investment plan. The growth on the fund...
Investing in cattle as a diversification strategy
If the current coronavirus crisis has taught us anything it is to make sure our investments are diversified. When it comes to investing in financial assets, we ensure diversification by investing in funds that provide exposure to local and offshore equities, bonds,...
Listen: You’re not broke, just pre-rich
Due to an urgent personal situation, Maya (@mayaonmoney) and Mapalo (@womanandfinance) were unable to record a podcast this week. However, we share with you this excellent discussion we had last year about taking a different perspective on how we view our finances. In...
Bounced debit orders will be very costly
Bank customers will have a nasty surprise if they allow their debit orders to bounce. When Anil contacted his medical scheme to cancel his premium as he knew he had no funds, he discovered it was too late. The debit order went off and Standard Bank charged a R61...
Money Makeover: Use a side gig to meet those money goals
A side gig where you offer your skills or services can be a great way to earn some extra cash to settle debts, start investing, or provide for those luxuries. However before you start, you need to do your homework and make sure you understand whether this is going to...
Decades of turmoil in half a year
The year is not yet halfway through, but it feels as if decades of turmoil have been compressed into it already. By Izak Odendaal and Dave Mohr, Investment Strategists at Old Mutual Wealth As the clock struck midnight on 31 December, apocalyptic bushfires were still...
Investing in a structured product
Technology has made investing via a structured product more accessible to the average retail investor. With the economic fallout expected from COVID-19, investors have either seen their portfolios seriously hurt or are too afraid to enter the equity market now....